David Mollett (Business Day)
After Freed From Desire’s outstanding run in last Saturday’s Gr 2 Hawaii Stakes at Turffontein, the man with the biggest smile apart from trainer Paul Peter would have been Heversham Park Farm owner, Nigel Riley.
Freed From Desire is a daughter of Triple Gr 1 winner, Jackson, who now stands at Riley’s stud in Gauteng. It is situated halfway between Alberton and Vereeniging.
Ridden by Warren Kennedy, three year-old, Freed From Desire, the youngest horse in the race, looked likely to beat her elders with 200m to run but was collared by Aussie import, Al Muthana (Deep Field), who won under a brilliant ride by S’manga Khumalo.
Al Muthana is trained by Mike De Kock and he was full of praise for the son of Deep Field on his website. He commented: “Al Muthana has been a revelation and it just shows what confidence can do to a horse. He looks like a proper Gr 1 horse now and that’s exciting.”
Prior to Saturday’s race, Freed From Desire had won five of her last six starts and proving an excellent advert for her sire.
Jackson (Dynasty) made top price of R1 million at the R2010 Emperors Palace National Two Year-Old Sale and joined the stable of Brett Crawford.
The son of Dynasty (Fort Wood) retired tio Highlands Stud the winner of six races and emulated his sire by winning both the Gr 1 Cape Derby and Daily News 2000. His first yearlings were offered for sale in 2017.
Commenting on Jackson, jockey Karis Teetan said: “He proved himself the best when he beat Variety Club (Var). You can’t describe the feeling – he flies when he runs.”
At Highlands, Jackson stood at a fee of R15 000 (live foal) so Heversham’s fee of R3000 (also live foal) looks an incredible bargain.
On his arrival on the Highveld, Nigel Riley said: “The move provides our customers and all local breeders with the opportunity to breed to a Triple Gr 1 winner with movie star looks. He is a proven sire of group winning progeny at a low price on a live foal basis.”
“We at Heversham will also be supporting Jackson with our own mares,” added Riley.
Commenting on the overall bloodstock situation, Riley said on Monday: “For a variety of reasons, some breeders didn’t have their mares covered last year. Things have improved and Freed From Desire’s performance shows there is a top stallion right on their doorstep.”
Another filly who turned in a top performance was Perfect Witness (Flower Alley) who earned black type by finishing third behind Rain In Holland and Sprinkles in the SA Fillies Classic. The daughter of Flower Alley – trained by Candice Dawson – started a longshot at odds of 33-1. The filly was beaten six lengths behind Rain In Holland (Duke Of Marmalade) in the Guineas, but now reduced the deficit with Sean Tarry’s star to three lengths.
Picture: Al Muthana beats Freed From Desire in the Wilgerbosdrift Hawaii Stakes (Candiese Lenferna)..
